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Saturday, March 05, 2005

Ind. Law - Death Row inmate Darnell Williams' life was saved by a multitude of factors.

"Death Row inmate Darnell Williams' life was saved by a multitude of factors" is the lead to this opinion piece in today's Indianapolis Star by editorial writer James Patterson. More quotes from the beginning of the piece:

Among the critical elements that led to his winning a reprieve this past summer were contributions by students a the Northwestern University Law School, Williams' lawyers and editorials published by The Star.

Compliments aside, the important thing is that Indiana didn't execute a man who may have been innocent.

Williams was facing execution for his role in the murders of a Gary couple when former Gov. Joseph Kernan commuted his sentence to life without parole five days before he was to be put to death this past summer.

"Countdown to an Execution" chronicles the frantic attempts by Juliet Yackel, Williams' chief attorney, to save his life before the scheduled July 9, 2004, execution. The documentary, previewed at the Indiana University Law School on Monday, premieres at 8 p.m. [on Wed.] March 16 on "American Justice" on A&E.

More from the end of the piece:
The courts, which systematically rebuffed Williams' appeals at least 13 times, were of no help. His only hope was to manage an unlikely reprieve from Kernan, who took over when O'Bannon died. On June 29, the Indiana Parole Board voted 5-0 to recommend clemency. Five days later, Kernan obliged.

"But for (The Star) putting the injustices in this case squarely in the public eye, repeatedly, Darnell Williams would have been quietly executed in 2003, with a typical statement from the governor about how many courts had reviewed his conviction and sentence and how they had determined that DNA testing would be inconsequential," Sites said.

A Hoosier governor hadn't granted clemency in a death penalty case since 1956. Before Williams, the parole board had never done it.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 5, 2005 10:57 AM
Posted to Indiana Law